This invention relates primarilyxe2x80x94but not exclusivelyxe2x80x94to spinner racks and more particularly to racks for storing or inventorying products or items such as prescription refills in an ordered system
Display and storage racks commonly available provide a variety of configurations in which to present products for sale or to store or otherwise inventory items for later use. Typically, such racks either display or store items in a linear or circular manner. For example, gondolas and similar shelving systems found in many retail stores provide a plurality of horizontal shelves and other types of display devices such as brackets and rods which can be hung from a central support and on which product can be displayed. Such known displays are illustrated, for example, in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,697,507; 4,919,282; 4,046,083; and 2,965,242. Similarly, circular rods supported by a center mast or structure and from which clothing or similar items are hung can be found in many retail stores. Such racks, however, do not satisfactorily meet the needs found in a variety of situations where it is necessary or desirable to display items in an ordered pattern wherein the items are easily accessible and readily viewable from all sides of the rack, and inventory control is also desired.
In many other situations, items such as prescription refills, photographs developed for consumers by a commercial establishment, or medical records, to name but a few, need to be stored in an ordered manner so that particular orders or records may be quickly located and retrieved for presentment to a customer or for use in attending to a patient. Typically, such items are stored in bins, drawers or filing cabinets which are labeled in some sort of systematic manner, such as alphabetically or by special code, so that each particular item can be located and retrieved as required. Nonetheless, such systems can prove to be cumbersome or time-consuming to use. When a large number of items are stored together in one bin or drawer, it can be rather time-consuming to sort through the bin to find a particular item. As items are removed from the bin or drawer and new items added, the bin may become cluttered and it can prove difficult to keep the bin organized. Consequently, locating and retrieving a particular item stored within a crowded bin or drawer becomes more difficult and time-consuming. Also, such bins and drawers often take up an inordinate amount of space, are expensive to construct and install, and may present an unsightly, disheveled appearance to customers.
Pharmacies present an example where it is desirable to prepare and store large numbers of unique items for later individualized retrieval. Many people are on programmed prescription drugs, medicines, food supplements, and the like (hereinafter collectively called xe2x80x9cmedicationsxe2x80x9d) which require taking a number of such medications on a timed schedule. As a result, pharmacies can easily predict within a few days when a customer will call for a refill of his medication. The advent of the computer has made the record keeping and prediction for such refills easier to maintain.
On the other hand, a pharmacy staff does not always have a smooth flow of work which can be done in an orderly manner. During normal working hours of a day, many customers are at their place of employment and the pharmacy staff has slack time with only a few customers to serve. On weekends and in the evening hours after the workday ends, there is a flood of people simultaneously demanding service. The pharmacy cannot afford to staff many people when demand is slack. If the staff has too few people when demand is strong, the customers may go elsewhere.
A further complication is that once a prescription is filled, it is generally placed in one of many baskets marked alphabetically. When a customer comes in to pick up his prescription or other medication, the pharmacy staff usually looks through a basket carrying the customer""s initials. Many times, the pressure of the rush hour leads to placing the prescriptions or medications in the wrong basket. Therefore, the usual procedure is to look through a number of baskets if the prescription is not found at the expected location. These and similar problems often create significant ill will among the customers of a pharmacy and take up unnecessary time of the pharmacy staff.
A desirable procedure would be for the pharmacy staff to use slack time calling up and filling the soon-to-be-ordered prescriptions or medications and filling them. Then, when the customer comes in for a refill, the pharmacy staff simply hands the customer the pre-filled container. This procedure creates a problem of controlling the inventory of pre-filled containers.
Thus, there is a need for a rack which provides a system or method to inventory a plurality of unique items such as pre-filled prescriptions in a predetermined order. Such a rack should allow for items to be added to and removed from the rack without disturbing the systematic order in which the items are stored. The present invention provides such a rack and system, which is particularly suitable for use in storing and inventorying unique items, such as prescription refills, processed film envelopes, and medical records in an ordered system for quick and easy retrieval.
Accordingly, an object of the invention is to provide a general-purpose system which can be used for filing any appropriate item within an ordered inventory of such items, thereby providing ready access to specific individual items within the ordered inventory. According to the present invention, the ordered inventory is easily maintained as items are added to and removed from the system in locations consistent with the method employed for ordering the inventory. Yet another object is to provide a rack with a plurality of interconnected levels for the point-of-sale display of products in a retail environment, the rack not only being attractive, but also serving to manage the inventory of products in a systematic manner.
A first example of where the present invention may be useful is in a retail pharmacy setting. Pre-filled prescription orders may be placed on the rack system of the present invention in some systematic order, such as alphabetically by customer name, order number, or some other method of uniquely identifying and organizing each prescription order. As customers arrive to pickup their prescriptions, the proper pre-filled order may be easily located based on the order""s unique identifier and the ordered system for storing the prescriptions on the rack. The rack system is such that when individual pre-filled prescription orders are removed, the overall order of the inventory is maintained, so that the pre-filled prescription orders remaining on the rack may be similarly easily located for fast, efficient retrieval and later prepared orders may be systematically stored on the rack.
Another example where the present invention could find use is in the storage and inventorying of processed photographs prepared by commercial film developers for pickup by customers. Photographs developed by commercial processors are usually packaged in envelopes bearing a unique identifier such as a numbered code or a customer""s last name, in much the same way that pre-filled prescription orders are packaged. The present invention provides a system uniquely adapted for holding the developed photographs in an ordered system wherein the photographs can be quickly and easily located and retrieved for customer pickup.
The present invention also provides a rack with multiple interconnected levels for the display of product in a unique configuration so that the product is exposed to view as it moves along the different levels of the rack. Such display racks may be suitable for any number of different retail environments where it is desirable to make a relatively large number of items stored in a pre-determined order or according to a pre-defined system readily available for consumer viewing and access, and which facilitates inventory control.
In keeping with an aspect of the invention, a rack is provided with a track having several interconnected levels to support a variety of different types of products or items. The track may be supported by a center mast or other type of structure, or in appropriate circumstances, freestanding. Means are provided to removably support the product or items on the track so that they can move along the track between the different track levels. In some applications, the product or items may be labeled with a unique identifier so that they can be placed on the rack in a predetermined ordered inventory or system. As items are removed and added to the rack, the predetermined order is maintained. The rack may be rotatablexe2x80x94i.e. a xe2x80x9cspinnerxe2x80x9dxe2x80x94to permit easy access to the stored products or items at all locations along the multi-level track.